I need advice on dealing with rejection.

I need advice on dealing with rejection.

Most of my blog posts are about something I have learned along the journey of writing my book. Somethings I have figured out, mastered and now understand. However, this time I’m writing to let you know I need help. I finished my book and won NaNoWriMo for November 2013. Because I won NaNoWriMo I won a chance to submitted my book to the letsgowrimos.com contest from Lulu.com. I have done everything I could to give me the best chance at winning a top ten spot. I submitted my manuscript last night.

Was it enough? I don’t know yet. Truthfully, mathematically the chance of being chosen is slim. It's very rare, almost impossible, for a new author to get the first publishing deal they submit to. I need to prepare myself for rejection. But how?

I spent all this time telling myself I could win. How do I prepare for the chance of not winning? I know I'm full of questions today.

Anyone have any advice? Maybe you have gone though something like this. I need to learn how to pick myself up after a rejection and try again, and again.Stop by my Facebook and let me know.

<3 Amber

Winning Was Worth Every Hair I Pulled Out

I truthfully don’t know how, by the end I was just typing like a mad woman. It wasn't easy, in fact it was probably the hardest thing I have ever done. However, I can say “I did it! I finished NanoWriMo and won!”

I would say the hardest part of writing had nothing to do with writing at all. Self confidence played a large role and was a constant battle for me. There was many times I would stop writing and think to myself “What are you doing? Writing a book? You cant even spell the word Grammar with out spell check.”

It would have been so easy to allow myself to slip into that mindset. The mindset that failing was an option. I refused , fought back and I won! Here in December I stand a winner, against both NanoWriMo and myself.

Do I have any advise for people trying to write a book? Yes. Don't ever quit. If it takes you two years it takes you two years. Just don’t ever give into the dark side.

After the excitement of winning wore off, “Now what?” was the the next thing that crossed my mind. I have to have it fully edited by the 8^th of December to qualify for the letsgowrimos.com contest. If I win that it should be smooth sailing going forward. If not then I will begin to look for a publisher. I have also spent a lot of time looking into self publishing.

For now I am taking it one step at a time. I have a few friends (Kayla, Jessica, and Stephanie) who are helping me edit and get everything done on time. I will keep you updated on what happens with the contest. 

The last thing I wanted to do, was to thank everyone who has helped me along the way. Even if all you did was like my Facebook Page it meant the world to me!!

<3 Amber

Picture Worth Thirty-Three Thousand Words!

Is This The Writer's Block Apocalypse?

Writer's block Apocalypse?
 I can go into the entire explanation and diagnosis of writers block (like this) but then this blog would sound more like a school essay, so instead lets focus on my personal situation.

For the first 19 days of NaNoWriMo I wrote at least 1200 words a day.

Almost Everyday.

However, the past two days?

11 words. That’s it. Eleven.

See why I think I caught writers block!!

I'm at the end of day two post contamination. Here is the details.

Patient Zero's Symptoms:

Is not able to sit down and write.
Restless.

Stay's busy cooking. (this is not normal behavior for patient Zero)

Feeling of guilt when looking at the computer/notebooks.

Fear of the pen. 

Final Diagnoses:

Block Of The Writer.... (Uh Oh!!)

Patients reaction:

Noooo! This can't be happening to me. Is it fatal? Is this the end of Everland? Is there a cure???

Doctor's Answer:

According to all research done on the block of the writer, patient zero must find her own cure.

Options that might work, Reading, movies, talking out loud, brainstorming, rest. 

That's it. That's all there is to it. Let's hope I can find my own cure.

<3 Amber (Patient Zero)

 

Experience Is Something You Get Just After You Need It.

So the good new I have to share with you is I reached 25,000 words last night! That's my half way point! However, I learned a few good but hard lesson's as a beginner writer yesterday.

First, you do not have to be an editor to be a writer, They are two completely different jobs.

Good grammar and spelling (two things I don’t have) are helpful to a writer, but a writer is not dependent on them. I believe even the best writers need someone to edit for them.

However there are some pieces of knowledge that are helpful to have when writing. Being as I only became a writer 15 days ago now I have been doing a learn as you go approach. Because of this I learned a some hard lessons yesterday.

It all began when I started to notice I kept switching between the words “said” verses “says”. Example in some cases I would use the sentence

The boy said “Let's go.”

Or sometimes I would use

The boy says “Let's go.”

After researching and looking through some of my favorite authors who also wrote in third person (J.K Rowling) I learned I should have been using “said” all along. They mean two completely different things. You can learn more about this from this link here.

As I ran through my novel to fix all of my “says” to “said” however I noticed some of my sentences no longer made sense.

The boy stands up and says “Lets go!”

Was becoming...

The boy stands up and said “Let's go!” (doesn’t make sense)

I learned it should have been...

The boy stood up and said “Let's go!” (all past tense)

When you are writing in third person point of view and you're narrating a story that happened in the past you need to stay in the past tense.

For all those non writing friends of mine this meant I had to completely read through 25,000 words and fix three out of every five words.

It has been been a lot of work fixing everything! But now when reading a part of my book it makes better sense and sounds a million times better.

Anyone else going through anything like this? I would love to hear. Feel free to comment on Facebook! 

Amber <3